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It is never hard to recognize who "The Chef" is when Jackson steps into the ring (Photo courtesy of Team Jackson).

Written by John Archibald, Resolution Sports

Gourmet cook and undefeated super middleweight Julius “The Chef” Jackson (15-0, 11 KOs) was back in action last weekend in Panama, making a short order dish of Jhonathan Ricar (9-6, 7 KOs) after serving up a second round stoppage of the dangerous Colombian brawler. The knockout was the 11th in 15 professional fights for the 2008 Olympic representative of the Virgin Islands, who is also the son of three-time world champion Julian “The Hawk” Jackson.

“It was a good fight, actually,” the humble Jackson recalled. “The first round was a good round. My opponent came out pretty aggressive, and I think he may have won that first round. There was a little bit of a setback as far as the timing of the fight, so I had warmed up a little early and came out a bit cold, started a bit slow. He started really fast, throwing a lot of combinations in the first round. He actually caught me right beneath my eye. I got a little bloodshot in my eye and was a little blurry there for three seconds or so.”

At the completion of the opening frame, Jackson headed to his corner where he was greeted by his father, and everything was quickly back on track by the time the next bell sounded.

“After the first round, I went back to the corner, starting to feel loose and warm now,” Jackson said. “My dad asked ‘You alright?’ and I told him ‘Yeah.’ He said ‘You were a little cold out there, right? Move your head a little more and just get closer so you can close the gap, man.’ I went out there in the second round feeling looser, using my jab and moving my head a little more. I was able to get close and ripped a right to the body, man. I took the jab and just turned it into a right body shot, and that put him down. The referee counted to 10, and that was it.”

Reaching 15-0 is a landmark point in the career of a professional boxer, one that Jackson is truly embellishing.

“It feels good, man,” he confirmed. “I’m glad that I got the knockout as well because that means I can stay busy and get back in the ring soon. I really feel like we’re on our way, and we’re becoming bigger names and getting recognized. It feels awesome. It feels like my dream is coming true, you know?”

As is proof in this father-son relationship, a true boxing pedigree runs through the Jackson family tree, but it is actually much deeper than just the two of them. Julius’ brother, John, is a 15-1 knockout artist with 14 stoppages, and their cousin, Samuel Rogers, is undefeated in 13 professional fights. The trio is also signed to Sampson Boxing, which is operated by Sampson Lewkowicz, advisor to WBC Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez.

“My dad and my coaches have been talking about this for a while now, how we’re going to start getting onto bigger stages, getting the knockouts and fighting maybe four weeks later, really building up our records," he remarked. "I feel that we’re in that stage of our careers right now, and it feels great. We feel ready. We feel like it’s perfect timing to be here, and we’re ready take it all head-on.”

While nothing is set in stone yet, it is possible that all three members of “The Hawk Flock” could be returning to action on the same card as early as April.

“It’s looking that way,” Jackson mentioned. “We are still waiting on confirmation, so we’ll see. Maybe some other opportunities will show up as well. We’re just waiting on the final word from our promotional team and Sampson Lewkowicz. We’re just going to stay busy and stay in the gym. It’s all part of the game. We’re just waiting on the call.”

For all of the latest news about Julius Jackson, make sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram @JuliustheChef1.